The Birth Order

Sophia is very popular with children at Gerritt's daycare


Gerritt playing at the Bellevue Square


Sophia & Mommy enjoying breakfast at the Bellevue Square


Gerritt & Sophia playing Melissa & Doug's architectural blocks


Sophia snuggling with her teddy bear

My husband took Gerritt & Sophia to Tacoma to see their Korean grandmother on the New Year's Eve since I've had to work that evening as well as the New Year's Day. When they all returned on Saturday morning, the kids looked older all of a sudden. This happens to me more often than I would like. Even if Gerritt & Sophia were only gone for a couple of days, I realize how fast they are growing up!
I've earned my money on the New Year's Day since I was assigned to a constant observer room (meaning all of the patients were not stable enough to be in their own private rooms). The shift started with my nursing assistant Richard being punched in the face by a demented gentleman & me having to call a Code Gray (all available staff to the rescue). After some IV Haldol (a powerful antipsychotic) we were able to avoid restraints, however, this patient kept us busy by attempting to climb out of bed for the next 8 hours. The other 2 patients were also confused. The 90+ year old grandma threw a fit about being held in the hospital against her will & attempting to walk out & my other elderly patient could not urinate on his own after his urinary catheter was removed 6 hours ago. It is never boring at work! Sure, I have some quiet evenings when I can sit & read my Mothering magazine, but those are rare.
Gerritt is in his new phase of liking TV shows about monster trucks & racing cars. After Curious George cartoons that is all he wants to watch nowadays. He also likes the show about antique cars & their restoration. Who would have thought a 2-year-old boy would find a mechanic's talk about engines so appealing? Last couple of days my husband & Gerritt have been sleeping together in the guest room while I watched Sophia. Gerritt is very intense about being with Mommy as much as possible including bedtime & the only reason he agreed to sleep with Daddy was because he showed him a monster truck show on his laptop computer in bed. :-) It is really funny to listen to Gerritt's "Oh, no!" as well as loud excited squeals.
Gerritt also loves to play rough & asks Daddy & I to give him piggyback rides & to turn him upside down often. One of his favorite activities is to lay on the couch & then fall off "accidently" on the pillows below. He then proceeds to yell, "Oh, no! Oh, no! Crash!" & repeat the above several times over. He really likes to eat ice cream, so some days he requests it in the morning (I make him eat his hot cereal 1st) & in the evening (after dinner). We usually have strawberry, vanilla & chocolate flavors in the fridge, & Gerritt calls them by color (pink, white & brown). His favorite ice cream flavor is chocolate.
Sophia loves her new diet & squeals with excitement when she sees a cup of new food to try. She even enjoys drinking water from a real cup (I have to hold it for her). Today she had a pureed soup of chicken, avocado, beans, barley & vegetables. After lunch she discovered the clattering sound produced when a metal spoon touches a ceramic bowl & spent about 20 minutes just hitting the bowl with the spoon & laughing loudly. What a funny baby!
Sophia will start daycare for the 1st time next week. She will join Gerritt at his Russian home daycare, however, just for 4 hours (2 pm - 6 pm) on Wednesday, Thursday, & Friday every other week (my work days). We are so relieved Tamara agreed to take Sophia (she usually takes children age 1.5 or older). My husband is really tired of driving Sophia to Tacoma, & I really miss not seeing her for 3 days in a row. We will be paying $10/hour for Sophia in addition to $60/day for Gerritt, but I am willing to pay that much knowing she will be in a safe & happy place. I am sure Sophia will love interacting with all of the older children, & she is already a star there. Every time we come, the kids just go crazy over "baby" in the house!
I love having a little girl & dressing her up in cute dresses & put bows in her hair! We call Sophia our little princess. According to the Birth Order book (read below), she may not be as significant as the firstborn, but she is our 1st girl, so we all love her to pieces. Next Monday I will take Sophia to get her ears pierced. The scheduling was interesting since 2 people have to pierce both of her ears at the same time. It is better to pierce her ears now than when she is a toddler (when she might pull on them more & cause infection). I had my ears pierced when I was 12 or 13, & remember being really frightened.
I am in the process of reading the Birth Order Book by Dr. Kevin Leman. I've learned that firstborns are more motivated to achieve than their younger siblings; a much greater proportion of firstborns wind up in "high achievement" professions such as science, medicine, or law; they are perfectionists, reliable, conscientious, list makers, well organized, critical, serious, scholarly, goal oriented, believers in authority & ritual, self-reliant & people pleasers. Middle children are good negotiators; unpredictable (they often have opposite of the firstborn's character traits), avoid conflict, independent, have extreme loyalty to the peer group, have many friends, & tend to have the fewest number of photos in the family album. The babies of the family (last born, the youngest) are manipulative, charming, blame others, show offs, good salespeople, & engaging. Apparently, the fact that my husband & I, both firstborn & only children, married each other is not a coincidence. Who would have thought? Gerritt definitely fits the firstborn description. He is serious; a perfectionist (I understood this when I saw him lining up his many cars in a perfectly straight line & finding little pieces of lint on his clothes & putting them in the garbage); & self-reliant. I am looking forward to learning more about Sophia's personality as she gets older. The part about middle child having the fewest number of photos in the family album doesn't fit Sophia. I take several photos of her almost daily. She is our firstborn girl, so perhaps we don't really treat her as the middle child.